V performs a stylised explosion of darkwave, driven by industrial beats, bass and reverb-drenched vocals. Forged in Berlin and fine-tuned in Naarm (Melbourne), their live show paints a dystopian landscape that hits all the right punk // goth // wave notes.
Their current full-length, So Pure, was nominated for the best Rock/Punk album at the 2019 Music Victoria awards. 2022 will solidify V as one of Australia's best dark alternative acts, with a series of follow-ups to their critically acclaimed 2019 release scheduled through Dero Arcade (Gadigal Country/Sydney), Le Petit Signal (Berlin) and Heavy Machinery Records (Naarm/Melbourne) later this year.
ALT’s very own JESS WILLOUGHBY chatted with V ahead of their Perth debut with QUELL on July 15 at Lucy’s Love Shack…
V // SO PURE
So Pure focuses very directly on the personal process of coping with the loss of significant other. Can you delve into whether creating this release was cathartic or tumultuous for you?
It is definitely odd going onstage and philosophising about death while doing spins and microphone swinging tricks. Life is absurd. Writing So Pure was definitely cathartic; it was a way to come to terms with my strong emotions and the things bubbling under my subconscious. Writing and performing this album was a huge coping mechanism, as well as a way to honour and memorialise my loved one who was also a musician and supporter of the V project. And it was cheaper than therapy.
How did it feel to be nominated for the Music Victoria Awards. Is this something you relish or desist?
It was the most amazing thing ever! I'm so underground you can't even Google me, so to have my music recognised by Music Victoria, was an absolute trip. That's one step below my ultimate goal, an APRA! One way or another I want one. The nomination was also a lesson in capitalism and how the music world works — without a PR agency behind the album it mightn't have been heard and the nomination wouldn't have happened.
The ceremony was really fun, accompanied by my sound engineer Ruby Burns and Dero Arcade record boss Jack Mannix, I borrowed a dress from Natasha Vomit of EN.V, hung out with Hexdebt, Uboa, and the queen Amy Taylor (Amyl and the Sniffers). It was one of the proudest moments of my life! Legitimised in the eyes of the status quo (LOL). Making music can be a high-risk low reward but sometimes there is a tasty reward.
The follow-up to So Pure is scheduled for release later this year. Can you give us a little bit of background about the inspiration for this work?
My new album is called Best Life (you heard it here first, folks!). It was written during one of the toughest lockdowns in the world over a period of over a year in isolation in Melbourne. I sequestered myself away in the shed in my home in Brunswick, which was soundproofed and had a full PA. I wrote about the search for a better self and of the multiplicity of the self and of the body. I also wrote about the fallibility of the body and contradictions within oneself — the usual ruminations over pain, illness and death.
The title track Best Life is split into two distinct parts via the framework of the verse/chorus: the good inner voice and the evil inner voice. It set the tone for the rest of the album, the push and pull of conflicting selves. I am currently seeking a record label to put Best Life out. Please direct all enquiries to: studiovshop@gmail.com
How will this next release be the next artistic step for V?
Best Life is my life's work; my opus. The next artistic steps are bureaucratic ones — securing a record label, test pressings, release dates, a touring schedule, world domination, clawing my way towards more recognition and more possibilities for collaboration. All my hopes and dreams for a better life.
Best Life is actually just one of three upcoming V releases. In 2020, I was commissioned by the City of Melbourne (Heavy Machinery Records) to write an album for the Federation (sic) Bells, which I worked on concurrently with Best Life. The ‘bells’ album is called Faithless, and it's a largely ambient/experimental work heavily influenced by Cosey Fanni Tutti, Chris Carter and Group A. It was an incredibly difficult album to write: I created and destroyed four bodies of work until I arrived at something I could be proud of. I am especially humbled by my collaboration on the title track Faithless with Melbourne musician Hunny Machete who wrote and directed an arrangement for choir performed by Angel's Choir.
The most exciting thing about Best Life is that it is a visual album; there are 10 songs and 10 music videos. I have gotten all my ducks in a row prior to this release. I've been biding my time, growing my cache of assets that will be released in a torrent once I inevitably find a home for Best Life. This is the most organised record release by far — except for the fact it doesn't have a home yet! For the visual album, I worked with directors from Australia, Germany, Italy and Poland, providing no creative prompts, only the song. Every director built a rich visual world, totally unique but possessing common strong visual elements; things like queer bodies, the duality of the self and fetish/otherness to name a few.
Finally, there will also be a re-release of my first album — formerly Untitled — now titled No Return, via Le Petit Signal in Berlin coming up later this year. It has been released twice, both on cassette via Freudian Slit Records (DE) and Tuff Enuff Records (UK). So it's exciting to finally see it come out on vinyl! Remastered by Mikey Young.
V // NOT READY 4 THIS
What would be your ideal contemporary Australian gig (in an ideal world) and why?
An all-day massive festival with multiple stages and cool bands like: Scraps, Bitumen, Ov Pain, Lucy Cliché, Brainbeau, Hexdebt, Hunny Machete, Cong Josie, Mystery Guest, Zipper, Polish, Quell, Kayo, Punko, Pleasure Symbols, Enola, James Seedy, Pink Mouse and Ghost Bitch. A different record label running each stage, like one stage is the Moontown Stage, one stage is the No Patience stage, IT Records stage etc.etc. All of us getting paid loads of money and fed and watered. Televised on the ABC. Flush out the crap on mainstream telly. That's the dream right!?
Catch V make their live debut in Perth at Lucy’s Love Shack with Quell on Friday, July 15. Grab your tickets now here.